Hennediella austroafricana Hedd. & M.J.Cano, a new moss species from the Cape winter-rainfall region

ABSTRACT

Introduction.

Hennediella Paris is a globally distributed genus comprising 15 species, of which two are presently known from southern Africa. Field studies in the Cape winter-rainfall area yielded a specimen that could not be assigned to any of the known species of the genus and is here described as new.

Methods.

Specimens collected using standard bryological field techniques were rehydrated in the laboratory, dissected, and mounted in Hoyer’s solution. Observations and measurements were made using standard stereo and compound microscopy.

Key results and conclusions.

Hennediella austroafricana Hedd. & M.J.Cano is a new species that is currently known only from the type locality in the Cape winter-rainfall region at Drie Kuilen, where it grew in Matjiesfontein Renosterveld. It is distinct from all other members of the genus in the combination of leaves with a border of short-rectangular, thick-walled, smooth (or at least less papillose) cells, and sporophytes with a thick seta, and a peristome with a high basal membrane and relatively short, straight to slightly twisted, filiform teeth.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the owners and management of Drie Kuilen Private Nature Reserve for permission to carry out research on their property, and to Inmaculada Guijarro for the illustration.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflicts of interest were reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by grants to T.A.H. from the South African National Research Foundation and the University of Cape Town and grant PID2019-103993GB-I00 funded by MICIN/AEI/10.13039/50110001103 to M.J.C.

Notes on contributors

Terry A. Hedderson

Terry Hedderson is a professor of evolutionary biology at the University of Cape Town. He specialises in systematics, biogeography and phylogeography, with a strong focus on African mosses, especially those of the Greater Cape Floristic Region.

María J. Cano

María J. Cano is a full professor of botany at the University of Murcia (Spain). Her research topics include the floristics, conservation, taxonomy and phylogeny of bryophytes. Her current research interest is focused on the taxonomy and phylogeny of different genera of the family Pottiaceae.